Michael Lawrence (23) began working for Princess Cruises last year and has been contracted to work upon their Pacific Princess vessel as a third mate, the company’s only vessel which visits Jersey.
It is safe to say that the St Clement resident has seafaring in his blood as his father, Peter, also works on ships – most recently as a pilot for Ports of Jersey.
On Friday morning the pair were reunited to bring the vessel in for a short stay in the Island’s waters.
Explaining how he felt, Michael said: ‘To come here and mix work and homelife together has been surreal. To see my dad come up onto the bridge on arrival felt quite strange.
‘I knew when I got the contract to work on this ship that I would be coming here but I was assigned it.
‘I did not choose it and this is the only ship in the company’s fleet to call in Jersey.’
Michael is now due to continue travelling around Britain, with a further two calls in Jersey, before heading to the Baltic sea, Iceland and the Mediterranean.
Captain Peter Lawrence, marine operations manager and pilot for Ports of Jersey, said that it had been a proud moment for him.
‘I have not seen him since 25 April so it was a little bit strange getting on the ship at first as we have to work in a professional manner,’ he said.
‘We had to get the ship onto the anchorage first but after that we sat down and had a bit of breakfast before getting on a tender to Jersey. It was quite a proud moment for me.
‘It was quite a deja-vu moment for me as my father was a pilot too.’
